


Wearing Only a Smile

by twinewool (colouredwool)



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Implied Amethyst/Vidalia, Nudity, implied polygems
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-18
Updated: 2016-08-18
Packaged: 2018-08-09 15:10:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7806718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/colouredwool/pseuds/twinewool
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pearl and Amethyst find some long-lost treasures when they take a trip to the Crystal Gem art collection tucked away in the Temple.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wearing Only a Smile

The squelch of something gooey underfoot sent a shiver up Pearl’s spine, but she persevered through the trash of Amethyst’s room. She could hear the other gem’s erratic footsteps ahead and the occasional crash as something was shoved aside to clear the way. Which was as courteous as Amethyst got.

It was an awful mess. But Amethyst's room had been the best place to store the ramshackle collection of artwork that had been gifted to the Crystal Gems over the past millennia. Despite the constant danger of landslide from some of Amethyst’s more ambitious piles, there were stable areas of cave rock where neither water flows or lava pools could endanger the more precious items. And to Pearl’s never-ending frustration, Amethyst could always navigate her way through her disaster of a room using pure instinct and guesswork to find whatever they needed. Even if it took a good half hour trek.

After turning yet another corner in the maze of trash, Amethyst suddenly yelled out and threw a fist in the air.

“Aw yes!”

She jumped over a mountain of rusted bathtubs and disappeared. As Pearl clambered over the pile with a grumble, she saw the familiar outcrop of rock that framed the entrance to their little archive room. She couldn’t help but sigh at how scuffed the crystals lining the outside wall had become, or the poor state of the now shabby, once immaculate, carved wooden doors. It had been rather pretty in its day.

“Why d’you wanna to look at these musty old paintings anyway, P?” Amethyst called over her shoulder, shoving the doors open and disappearing into the room beyond.

“Well, Steven asked if there were any more portraits of us from hundreds of years ago, and I thought I might be able to find a good one with Rose in it.” Pearl followed behind, grimacing at the mysterious residue that was splattered on part of the doorframe.

“Well that won’t be a problem,” Amethyst laughed, “We were always ass-deep in portraits of Rose. She always did like the artistic types.”

To Pearl’s relief it was actually quite clean and orderly inside. No rotting damp or mould creeping up to the ceiling as she’d feared, although it _was_ rather dusty. She ran her finger along the top of a nearby shelf and grimaced. At least everything looked undisturbed, safely tucked away under sheets and inside drawers. The occasional slab of chiselled stone and panel of preserved wood were left out in the open – some of the earliest human works that had been crafted to pay homage to them.

“Man, look at all this stuff.” Amethyst gave a whistle and spun round to take in the whole room.

“It’s been so long since I’ve been here, I’d forgotten how much we’d collected,” Pearl murmured. “Oh! Look at this! It’s Garnet defeating that giant sandworm gem from…gosh, it must be two-thousand years ago. It’s a shame the woodcarving’s cracked. They painted a mural on the town temple to honour that fight, though I imagine it’s been destroyed after all these years…”

Behind her, Amethyst dug around in the piles and boxes, pulling out a whole variety of ceramics and tiles decorated in dramatic representations of gem battles and fusions. Pearl hummed happily as she bustled about in excitement, uncovering one piece of artwork after another.

“Oh, there’s so many we could show Steven!”

Soft charcoal sketches of Rose drawn by her admirers, strikingly bold pastel works of the gems mid-battle, and beautiful oil paintings that were so lovingly detailed they had taken the artist years to complete each one. Even a few photographs could be found amongst the piles, grainy and faded, but still filed away for safe keeping.

There was a burst of laughter from Amethyst across the room. “I don’t think we’ll show Steven this one!”

Pearl turned to look. “Oh!” She giggled behind her hand. “My goodness, no. I think not.”

The nude of Rose was stunning.

She was painted on her side, lying on a bed of plush, velvet cushions with her hand tucked under her chin and a smile on her lips as her ringlets fell about her bare shoulders. Roses were carved into the woodwork surrounding the bedposts, and a bouquet of the same burst forth in full bloom at the bedside table and the open window behind. As followed her love of humankind, Rose had rendered her own physical form in the same likeness, right down to the smallest of details. Her breasts hung low and heavy, her nipples dark and wide in contrast to her glowing rosy complexion. Fair hairs, visible in the soft afternoon sunlight, had been painted delicately across her skin to where they darkened under her arms and between her thighs to the peek of pink flesh below. Her stomach, thighs and chest were graced by silver-white lines – the beauty of growth and aging that Rose could never experience, but could certainly mimic in her own way. At first glance she appeared human, before the eye caught the details. Her gem sparkling in the light of the window, those off-painted lips and her eyes...her eyes weren’t simply dark and shining. They reflected _galaxies_.

Pearl remembered being there for the sittings. One of Rose’s many human lovers and companions had painted the portrait – an artist that Pearl had actually enjoyed spending time with. So much so that she had often joined Rose on her visits and stayed to chat about the local art scene and discuss the latest advances in human technology. She’d respected the woman’s creative talent and abilities, and her request for a nude drawing of Rose (who had been eager to have fun) had been one of reverence rather than lust.

“Oh…” Pearl sighed wistfully, smiling to herself. “I’d forgotten about this painting.”

As she carefully tucked the canvas away, Amethyst uncovered the painting behind it and gave a strangled yelp.

“Woah, P! When did _you_ pose for one of these?”

Pearl spun round, startled. “Oh!” Immediately her face flushed blue.

There she was, painted by the same hand as Rose and sat naked on bare, white sheets. Her thighs were splayed where she kneeled, her arms braced behind her as she pushed her pelvis forward. Unlike Rose there was nothing warm and inviting about her naked body, and her brazen pose displayed nothing other than flat planes of shimmering, crystalline skin. Her body was alien, bare of any human features other than its outline. Her gem glowed faintly in the low light and her short hair was pulled back tight against her scalp. Behind her in the shadows the figure of Rose could be seen half-hidden out of view - the only part of her in the light was her hand that grasped Pearl’s left thigh from the side, wide enough to wrap around its whole circumference. Without the benefit of seeing Rose’s face, the gesture was possessive. Pearl’s gaze was direct and harsh, not softened by low lids or a smile, and her blue eyes were piercing, mouth tight and sharp.

It was strange to see the portrait centuries later. Back then she had simply basked in Rose’s declaration that she looked stunning and ethereal, and she hadn’t cared about how her artist friend had interpreted her. Looking at it now she saw how cold and wild she appeared. To a human’s eye she was exotic – literally alien – and the lewd nature of her pose was offset by the closed off, almost disdainful expression on her face. She wondered that Rose saw beauty in it, when all she saw now was how outlandish she seemed in contrast to the gorgeous, loving warmth of Rose’s painting.

Pearl expected to hear Amethyst laugh, to mock her for posing nude in front of a human. Instead the younger gem looked unexpectedly solemn as she gazed at it.

“I rather think this is for private viewings only,” Pearl said, trying to lighten the mood.

Amethyst didn’t respond. Only frowned. “Were you –” she started. Then dropped off.

“Was I what?”

Amethyst fiddled with the cloth that had covered the canvas. Her voice was quiet. “The artist…were you their lover too? Like Rose?”

“What? No, of course not!” Pearl burst out laughing. “I only posed for the painting because _Rose_ wanted me too, not because I wanted to please her _lover_.” She hummed thoughtfully. “Though I admit I was rather eager to see how she would paint me – I did admire her skills as a painter. She was a wonderful artist.”

“So…you never did nothin’? I mean, with any of Rose’s lovers?”

Pearl shook her head (and bit back from pointing out the double-negative. That didn’t seem helpful right now). “Would you care if I _had_ taken human lovers?” she asked.

Amethyst shrugged. “You and Rose did a lot of things you kept on the down low. I just thought maybe…I dunno…”

Pearl had no idea where this was going.

“Jealous?” she teased instead and covered up the painting as she leaned it carefully back in place.

To her surprise Amethyst blushed.

“As if!” she spluttered. “Your ass ain’t that fancy. I don’t need to commemorate it with a painting.”

Pearl rolled her eyes, and watched as Amethyst turned away and headed to the other side of the room, a little too quick to be casual.

There was no point trying to tease whatever this was out of Amethyst, so Pearl just continued with her search, ignoring the restless sounds of Amethyst rummaging about the room. She’d just started on a new pile of loose sketches when the distant clattering stopped.

The silence…lingered.

“I used to sit for Vidalia nude sometimes.”

Pearl blinked, and looked up.

“It was fun. And when I shapeshifted silly stuff I’d always get a laugh out of her.” Amethyst was standing a few metres away, apparently staring at a row of covered canvases. Pearl could hear the shy edge to the younger gem’s voice and see the light flush on her cheeks. “I’d look through all these art books she had and pose like those famous paintings – you know, like the Venus lady in the scallop shell, one titty out and her hair swooping about. Or like, full on laying on the bed, legs akimbo ‘cos that Klimt guy could be pretty lewd. I even let her paint on _me_ sometimes, with brushes, or her fingers and hands. And then I’d lick it all off or she’d shove me in the bath and blast the showerhead on me.” Amethyst laughed. “It was always kind of…intimate.” Amethyst met Pearl’s eyes for a moment, before letting her fringe fall in her face.

“Did – do you love her?” Pearl was startled by the idea. Amethyst had been, and was again, close to Vidalia. But her attachment had never seemed romantic.

“N-no! I just. I don’t know. I like her a lot and I’m glad we’re hanging out again. A lot’s happened for both of us, you know? And I like how easy it is to be with her. I just thought maybe you’d…understand what wanting that kinda thing with a human felt like.”

Pearl watched as Amethyst tucked her arms around her waist shyly and felt a little helpless. Amethyst had always been more interested in Earth culture and humans than Garnet and herself, and she had certainly played around with Rose’s human companions more willingly than either of them.

“Sorry, I’ve never seen the appeal of loving humans that way,” Pearl said softly and smiled. “Falling in love with other gems is trouble enough.” She walked over, and as Amethyst turned to face her, kissed her lightly on the mouth.

“Get off!” Amethyst laughed, and Pearl was glad to hear it was genuine. “It doesn’t matter anyway. Don’t think she wants a space rock butting in on her love life. Vidalia’s pretty free with that stuff and I know Yellowtail’s chill and all. But hey, she’s got kids and junk to look after - she ain’t got years to waste like us. Not on _me_ , anyway.”

“Hmm.” Pearl felt an old, familiar feeling stir in her gem as she listened to Amethyst. It hit a little too close to home, that sense of self-depreciation she had sunk into one too many times herself. Goodness knows she was the first to admit she was the least qualified to give out any kind of relationship advice. But she did know one thing. “Maybe you should talk about it with _Vidalia_ before you make any decisions on her behalf.”

“…yeah?”

Pearl nodded. “If she says no, then she says no.” She shrugged one shoulder. “At least you’ll know the answer. And I don’t recommend pining in silence - it leaves _much_ to be desired.”

Amethyst snorted and scuffed her foot against the edge of a nearby shelf. “Yeah. You’re right.”

Pearl hummed and glanced at the shelves in front of them curiously. “Did you ever put any of Vidalia’s paintings in here?”

“Nah. I keep them in my special place. Just for _me_.” Amethyst grinned and spun round, dragging a cover off a nearby painting in the process. Pearl was about to chastise her for being so careless when Amethyst gave a loud squeal.

“Look! It’s the perfect picture for Steven!”

Pearl winced at Amethyst’s pitch, then leaned over and picked the canvas up from the ground, arms outstretched so they could both see. She smiled. “It _is_ rather good.”

All four of the Crystal Gems stood in front of a raging waterfall, ready for battle, dark storm clouds gathering in the sky above as they faced an unseen foe, firelight gleaming off the decorative armour they wore. Rose looked serene as always, with sword and shield in hand, proudly looking out over the others whilst her pink curls flew about her. Pearl was attentive at her side, a sword drawn in each hand and her face fierce and shining as she stood at the ready. Garnet was the figure of stoicism and mystery, walking out in front with her palms raised, gems uncovered and glowing whilst her two lower eyes were hidden behind a strip of cloth. Humans always had liked the symbolism inherent in her third eye. Even Amethyst had stayed still long enough to be painted in detail, crouched beside Garnet with her whip stretched out between her fists and a wild grin on her face, eager to jump into the fight.

The artist had been a fantastic painter, with a fantastic imagination to conjure up such a legendary scene from what was probably a very confused recollection of the actual gem battle that had saved his town. The man had made a formal request afterwards that they pose for him, and Rose had been so excited that they’d all agreed. As Pearl remembered they had in fact posed by a rather placid river for the initial sketches, and the armour they had worn for the sessions hadn’t been half as showy. There had certainly been no fire and tempest in the background.

“All right! We look _awesome_! We’re definitely showing Steven this one.”

Amethyst snatched the painting from Pearl’s hands – “ _Amethyst!_ ” – and ran off with a loud cackle.

Fervently hoping that Amethyst didn’t damage the delicate artwork, Pearl got to her feet and chased after her. The doors slammed shut in her face, and as Pearl pushed them open again she saw the other gem shake her butt at her from the top of the pile of bathtubs - before she leapt down out of sight. Pearl tried to be annoyed, but couldn’t stop a startled laugh. Trust Amethyst to get so silly after spilling her heart out only minutes before.

She paused briefly in the doorway to take one last look at the treasures and memories quietly tucked away in the little room. And then quickly followed Amethyst’s trail.

 

 

 

 


End file.
